adopt2

Matt in our room.  A nice room.

August 30, 2007  Moscow

9:40pm.  Back in the room we had bread, cheese, salami and wine for dinner.  Ilyusha had oatmeal cereal, tagliatelle cream pasta with broccoli (Russian baby food) and apple-mango with curd cheese.  Mmm. Yummy.  He eats well.  I’m sitting here at the desk looking out the windows over Moscow that spans half our hotel room.

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Our hotel room view on one side.

We are on the 17th floor.  Our hotel and the one in front of us (to the right of the building in the above picture) both have neon lights that are constantly blinking and moving all night long from the bottom to the top of the hotel.  They are vertical lines and there are probably 30 of them across the width of the hotel.  Ilya loves looking at them, but it’s a good thing we have thick curtains.

Babies

I have to say I absolutely, positively LOVE having a baby again.

A and luke

Me kissing our baby all over.  I couldn’t stop.

It is soooo our nature (women.)  And if there are any of you out there who are debating about another baby in your family (as we did); maybe you have several kids and are wondering if that should be it or if you should have (or adopt) any more – I say do it!  (Obviously :)  God will bless you with the grace to do it.  And if you have older kids – Wow – Emma has been a huge help.  She carries him around, plays on the floor with him for long periods, gives him a bottle.  She will be learning diaper duty too.  (Update:  She and Meg are now pros at changing ALL KINDS of diapers.)

Questions and Prayers

I can’t tell you how I already love this little guy just like I love the other three.  What a God thing.  I was concerned about that in the beginning.  I think many first time adoptive parents wonder about that.  I can only attribute feeling that same love to God’s plan for the parentless and to prayer.  I prayed for his mother’s womb and I prayed that I would love him the same as the others and I prayed that the first picture we would see would be the child that vicerally “moved” us.  I will say that if I hadn’t felt a connection to his picture I would have moved on until I did because I believed that was important.  Apparently 80% of the people who adopt internationally, adopt their first referral.   That is, the first picture they receive.    I think God wants us to adopt and so he blesses us in the process.  He makes it doable for each of us. He says to take care of the orphans and the widows, and if we are obedient, we will be blessed.  I certainly don’t mean to be preachy. I hope it doesn’t come off that way.

Saturday, Sept 1

Well, It is 9am on Saturday morning.  I had a journal entry from yesterday that I haven’t been able to send.  Our lobby internet is not working.  So then I went to the cafe around the corner last night with Emma (so she could have ice cream) and for some reason IT was not working either.  So I figured out that the hotel across the street had internet, but it was closed til this morning.  My last entry was in “Word” on my computer and I am unable to get it from my laptop to this hotel computer.  Oh well. Maybe later.

Germs

It has been an interesting last 24 hours.  Figuring out Luke’s schedule, his congestion, the weather, trying to get out of the hotel room, etc.  The weather has gone from 90 to around 60 now.  We didn’t come very prepared for the cooler weather, but it is not terrible.  Luke has congestion and a rumbly cough.  He is slightly warm, but I think this is due to teething.  He is totally drooling and constantly wanting to chomp on something.  His nose stuff is clear though so that is good.  But yesterday it rained alot and there was a pretty stiff wind so we were reluctant to take him out.  The last thing we want over here is a sick baby.   So we took turns going out.  It can get a little crowded with 4 people in a hotel room feeling like you can’t go anywhere.

Getting Out

My excursions so far have been to the cafe, the shopping mall, grocery store around the corner and now to the hotel across the street.   Matt and Emma walked down to the Moscow River last night and back.

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Moscow River

They also walked probably 3 miles to and from Red Square

St Basil's Cathedral

St. Basil’s Cathedral in Red Square

and looked at some cathedral, and to the grocery for our croissant breakfast, coffee and hot chocolate in our room.  Last night we had bread, wine, cheese and salami again for dinner.  I’m not tired of it yet.

Russian

Ilya is so sweet, but I’m thinking he is probably missing his home he was used to a little.  He is being so good, but with the teeth and the nose and new people and a language he has never heard, poor guy is probably struggling a little.  Once we got to Moscow we had not had the TV on for over 48 hours.  Last night when Matt and Emma went for a walk I turned it on.  Lutia was in the crib. He could not see the TV from there but could here it.  When he heard that Russian language he just stopped and stared at the TV like he was listening to something he completely understood.  That gave me the idea to go get some Russian kid videos that he will be able to watch when we get home.

These Sheets?

At this hotel, they put a bottom sheet on the bed (queen size), then Matt and I each have a folded sleep sheet on top of each space and then a bed spread on top.  Very strange.  I guess you get into the sleep sheet (like a sleeping bag), but it is too confining.  It was this way in Stavropol too.  Also, they don’t want you to have a hot pot in the room to boil water.  They want you to go down the hall (the other end of the floor for us), but that is only 9am-6pm.  Otherwise you have to go down to the 6th floor.  I’m sorry, but I’m just going to have to break that rule.  I try not to break rules, but with a baby, his food 4-5 times a day (he does not like cold stuff) and our coffee in the am etc, etc for a week!  Plus if Matt and Emma are gone and I need the water…Gotta have that hot pot.  So we bought one yesterday and we will hide it when the maid comes in.

Today we will probably take turns going out again.  I really want to go back to the Tretyakov Museum.

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The Tretyakov Museum

We will take a cab if we do, because a walk to the metro (subway) would be too cold and germs everywhere for Ilya.  It is still kind of cold out.  Or we may do it tomorrow and hope for a warmer day.

That’s it for now.  My turn to go back to the hotel room.  We do stroll through the hotel, but there is not much to stroll through. Miss you all and can’t wait to see you.

Love, Allison


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